2. IEEE Computer Society Standards Activities Board 5 November 2002 Boston
IEEE Standards Association
Susan K. Tatiner,
Associate Managing Director,
Technical Program Development

3. “Things past redress are now with me past care.” William Shakespeare

4. Positives and Lessons Learned
Good practical advice from this body
The WG has moved on
WG/Sponsor/SASB/BoG chain of command
Review and/or polish some rules
Voting
Appeals

5. “It’s not the voting that’s democracy,
it’s the counting.” Tom Stoppard

6. Dorsey & Whitney Opinion That Started It All
Abstentions must be counted when calculating the total number of votes cast.

7. Why?
Excluding abstentions from the denominator can lead to absurd results.
There is significant precedent within the IEEE.
IEEE Board of Directors must take specific action to permit different procedures.

8. Who?
All IEEE groups governed by the principles in the Constitution and Bylaws
IEEE-SA Board of Governors
IEEE-SA Standards Board
IEEE Computer Society Standards Activities Board
IEEE-SA Working Groups
Balloting groups are NOT included.

9. Who Should Care About This? Slide 1
Not governance groups
In fact, the top governance bodies in IEEE Standards already follow the IEEE BoD voting rules with ease and success
IEEE-SA Board of Governors
IEEE-SA Standards Board

10. IEEE Board of Directors Voting Rules
Quorum is established at the beginning of the meeting and remains in effect unless challenged.
For each vote, Affirmatives, Negatives, and Abstentions are counted.
Total number of Affirmatives, Negatives, and Abstentions equals the total number of votes cast, but the “denominator” is the number of voting members present and able to vote when the vote is taken.
A simple majority is required for a motion to pass.
Number of votes needed for a majority is determined by the number of voting members present and able to vote when the vote is taken.

11. Improvements?
“Present, not voting”
Establishing a quorum before each vote
Two levels of abstentions

12. Who Should Care About This? Slide 2
Some argue that Working Groups will find these rules unduly onerous.
WG membership is not fixed and static
WGs can be quite large
Different nature of WG votes

13. “Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.”
José Ortega

14. We’re Not Barbarians
We’ve got the standards to govern different types of appeals
Technical
Procedural
A bit of both
An appeal in sheep’s clothing

15. Who Handles Appeals?
All technical appeals—or technical elements of appeals—must be resolved at the sponsor level or below.
Procedural appeals follow a clear path

16. The Appeals Path IEEE-SA Working Group IEEE-SA Sponsor
IEEE-SA Standards Board
Rehearing by the IEEE SASB
IEEE-SA Board of Governors

17. Comments, Questions, Dialogue
Susan K. Tatiner